10th July 2009
The National Employment Survey is a major workplace and earnings survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office and the results for 2007 have been published today. The survey provides detailed comparisons on the factors that influence individual employee earnings. The results have been compiled on the basis of earnings data provided by employers and individual data collected directly by the CSO from a sub-sample of employees. The CSO wishes to thank the employers and employees who provided information for the survey.
The results show that:
•Employees earned an average of €20.08 per hour in October 2007. Men earned €21.17 per hour and women earned €18.91 per hour (89.3% of male hourly earnings).
•Half of all employees earned less than €16.29 per hour (i.e. the median hourly earnings figure).
•Average hourly earnings for full-time workers were €21.17 while part-time workers received an average of €15.40 per hour.
•The average working week was 34.4 hours. Men worked an average of 38.0 hours and women 30.7 hours per week.
•Public sector average hourly earnings were 47.6% higher that the private sector in October 2007. Average earnings per hour in the public sector were €26.67 compared to €18.07 per hour in the private sector. Nearly a quarter (24.5%) of private sector employees consisted of Sales and Other occupations (mainly manual labour) compared with only 8.1% of employees in the public sector.
•A profile of educational qualifications in the public and private sectors shows over half (52.8%) of all public sector employees had third-level qualifications, compared with 31.9% in the private sector.
•Public sector workers have spent an average of 11.6 years in their current employment while in the private sector employees have spent an average of 8.2 years in their current employment.
•The average employee has been working for just over 15.1 years and has spent about 9.0 years in his/her current employment.
•Average earnings per hour were highest in the Education sector at €33.23 per hour followed by the Electricity, gas and water supply sector at €30.96. The lowest average hourly earnings were in the Hotels and restaurants sector, at €12.93 per hour.
•Professional employees earned the highest hourly earnings of €33.61 while Sales workers had the lowest earnings at €14.08 per hour.
•Educational qualifications had a strong influence on earnings potential as employees who had a third level degree or higher tended to have higher earnings than other employees and this difference increased with age. Employees aged under 25 years with a third level degree or higher qualification earned €17.57 per hour compared to those with a higher secondary (Leaving Certificate) qualification who earned €12.31 per hour. This gap had widened to €42.21 and €20.97 respectively for employees aged 50 to 60 years.
•Employees living in Dublin earned €22.03 per hour compared with €1 - €3 less for those living in the Rest of Leinster, Munster and Connaught (€20.29, €19.07 and €18.83 respectively). Employees in Ulster (including those living in Northern Ireland and working in the Republic of Ireland) earned €17.59 per hour.
•Average annual earnings were €37,726 in 2007, this figure was composed of €35,607 basic earnings and €2,120 annual bonuses and BIK (Benefit in Kind). Earnings were highest in the Electricity, gas and water supply sector at €71,572 and lowest in the Hotels and restaurants sector at €23,505.
•A comparison of NES results show that earnings per hour rose from €19.16 in October 2006 to €20.08 in October 2007. Hours per week fell slightly from 34.8 hours per week in October 2006 to 34.4 hours in October 2007.
•More analysis of the NES data will be carried out in July 2009 and published thereafter. This analysis will further examine the differences in earnings.
April 2009... As part of Dublin BID ‘Community Benefit' remit, DBID recently formed a new long-term partnership with the Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP) to work with them in developing long-lasting solutions to reduce the problems for those directly affected by substance misuse and homelessness and for the broader community in the city centre
Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP)... Tony Duffin 01 878 6899 http://www.aldp.ie/
48 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1
Other organisations involved in elimination of Substance Misuse and Homelessness.
Peter McVerry Trust... Fr.Peter McVerry 01 2830745 http://www.welcomehome.ie/frpetermcverry.htm
9 Annsbrook Clonskeagh Dublin14
Merchants Quay Ireland... Tony Geoghegan 01 5240160 http://www.mqi.ie/page.php?id=13 4 Merchant’s Quay Dublin 8
Capuchin Day Centre... Brother Kevin Crowley ofm cap 01 8720770 http://www.homeless.ie/
29 Bow Street Dublin 7.
Please email John Ellis Suppliers.ie info@suppliers.ie with further information
1st April 2009.....Live Register March 2009
Standardised unemployment rate rises to 11.0% in March
The seasonally adjusted Live Register total increased from 352,800 in February to 372,800 in March, an increase of 20,000.
In the year to March 2009, there was an unadjusted increase of 173,279 (+87.5%).
This compares with an unadjusted increase of 164,952 (+87.1%) in the year to February 2009.
Other features include:
_ The monthly increase in the seasonally adjusted series consisted of an increase of 13,900 males and an increase of 6,000 females.
_ The standardised unemployment rate in March was 11.0%. This
compares with 7.7% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the Quarterly National Household Survey.
_ In the month, the estimated number of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register was 31,384 males and 28,449 females.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Allowance.
Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest seasonally adjusted figure, for September to November 2008, is 170,700 persons unemployed.
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/2009/lreg...
In an attempt to encourage people to buy cars …..Some car dealers in USA will now allow buyers to return a vehicle within a year if they can't make the payments due to a job loss or disability.
2nd October 2008……..The Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Bill 2008 was signed into law by the President today protecting customers in six Irish banks.
The fallout from a collapse of the banking system would have been unthinkable.
Business depends on the banking system and will be relieved with this initiative which provides banking certainty and may also kick-start recovery from the recession.
A number of risks have been removed:
• The bank clearing system will not be interrupted.
• Money in current accounts and other bank debts are guaranteed
• Deposit accounts are secure.
POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL RELIEF FOR MORTGAGE HOLDERS NOT INCLUDED
The following ammendment does not appear to be included:
As part of this guarantee, a requirement may be placed on the credit institutions, as defined in the bill, to negotiate with mortgage holders on low incomes, and at risk of losing their homes, a plan for the reasonable repayment of their mortgage, using whatever means necessary, including the aid of the State agencies
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2008/4508/b45a08d.pdf
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=10023&&CatID=59
1st October 2008.......Standardised unemployment rate rises to 6.3% in September
The seasonally adjusted Live Register total increased from 235,100 in August to 244,500 in September, an increase of 9,400.
In the year to September 2008, there was an unadjusted increase of 79,565(+49.5%). This compares with an unadjusted increase of 73,178 (+42.0%) in the year to August 2008.
Other features include:
_ The monthly increase in the seasonally adjusted series consisted of an increase of 5,800 males and an increase of 3,500 females.
_ The standardised unemployment rate in September was 6.3%.This compares with 5.1% in the second quarter of 2008, the latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the Quarterly National Household Survey.
_ In the month, the estimated number of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register was 12,700 males and 15,521 females.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Allowance. Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest seasonally adjusted figure, for March to May 2008, is 115,100 persons unemployed.
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/2008/lreg...
Click here for Live Register, September 2008
Adam is an angel and lives on a cloud and makes his Mummy and Daddy so proud.
With long golden hair you just could not miss, he always has time for a hug and a kiss.
The message he sends from his cloud every day, is to spend more time with each other and play.
The most important thing in life's simply this, Show your love for your family with a hug and a kiss.
Barretstown
Founded by Paul Newman in 1994, Barretstown exists to improve the quality of life of children with serious illness by providing life changing programmes of therapeutic recreation which aim to rebuild their confidence, trust and self esteem.
Hospitals take care of the physical effect of serious illness; Barretstown helps to heal the emotional scars.
Visit the website at : www.barretstown.org
25th September 2008……………GDP declines by 0.8 % in Q2 2008
In the second quarter of 2008 GDP decreased by 0.8 per cent at constant prices compared with the same period in 2007 while GNP decreased by 2.1 per cent in volume over the same period.
This is the second successive quarter in which GDP showed a decrease compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
The profits of foreign owned enterprises are excluded from GNP. These profits were relatively high in the second quarter of 2008 resulting in a significant decrease in GNP. GNP is also affected by other income flows between residents and non-residents and the timing of these flows can be variable.
Some of the main features of the results are:
• Consumer spending (personal consumption of goods and services) in volume terms was 1.4 per cent lower in Q2 2008 compared with the same period of the previous year.
• Capital investment, in constant prices, was 18.8 per cent lower in Q2 2008 than in Q2 2007. There were significant declines in house building as well as in the acquisition of transport equipment and machinery and equipment compared to the same period of last year.
• Net Exports (exports minus imports) in constant prices were €1,242 million higher in Q2 2008 compared with Q2 2007.
• The volume of output of Industry (incl. Construction) increased by 1 per cent in Q2 2008 compared with Q2 2007. Within this the output of the Construction sector fell by 12.2 per cent over the same period.
• Output of Distribution, Transport and Communications was down 4.3 per cent while Output of Other Services was 2.5 per cent higher in the second quarter of 2008 compared with the same period of last year.
Seasonally adjusted series
On a seasonally adjusted basis GDP decreased by 0.5 per cent in volume terms while GNP decreased by 3.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2008 compared with the previous quarter.
Click here for Quarterly National Accounts Q2 2008 provided by CSO
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/economy/2008/qna_q22008...
22nd September 2008……………National pay talks on the next module of “Towards 2016” have concludes and a draft “Heads of agreement” produced which must be ratified by the social partners.
COMMENCMENT DATE
If ratified the agreement would take effect from the expiry of the first 27 months module of “Towards 2016”
Some agreements expired in early 2008 and backdated payments could be due.
Agreements ending on 31 January 2008 will attract back pay of 3.5% on pay for from May2008 to date.
INABILITY TO PAY
Independent assessors must be engaged by employers to verify their inability to pay and the A decision of the LRC and ultimately the Labour Court could be invoked.
PAY PAUSE
3 months in private sector
11 months in Public sector
WAGE INCREASE
Providing for a pay increase of 6% for all workers to be paid over 21 months
3.5% for six months followed by 2.5% for the remaining 12 months.
(this will amount to annualised 3.5%)
An additional half percent will apply for low paid workers (those earning less than €11 per hour or €22500PA) in the final phase
OTHER ISSUES
Discussions will commence on protection of workers’ rights and employment standards.
• Provisions to prevent employers using temporary “agency” workers to break strikes.
• A statutory prohibition on the victimisation of trade union members and inducements to encourage trade union members to leave their unions.
• commitments on public service modernisation to reflect the OECD report.
• Enforcement of employment rights based legislation to give powers to The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA)
Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 is overdue http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewpda.asp?DocID=9086&&CatID=59
The unions had been seeking enforcement of rights for employees including the introduction of mandatory collective bargaining and equal rights for “Agency” workers.
The minimum wage rate will also be clarified as it was due for review.
Check back later for updates
This News You Can Use is sponsored by Agency Group www.agency.ie
Further info available 353 1 6793561 or email update@agency.ie
The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) was established under the Social Partnership Agreement "Towards 2016" to achieve a national culture of employment rights compliance.
NERA provides information to employees and employers through its information unit, monitors employment conditions through its inspection services and can enforce compliance and seek redress.
NERA covers many aspects of employment rights including Wages, Annual Leave, Working Hours, Redundancy, Dismissal, and Notice.
http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/
11th September 2008 ......Annual Inflation falls slightly to 4.3% in August
Consumer Prices in August, as measured by the CPI, increased by 0.5% in the month. This is the same as the increase recorded in August of last year. The annual rate of inflation fell to 4.3%, down from 4.4% in July 2008.
The EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) showed no change in the month, compared to an increase of 0.4% in August 2007. As a result, the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the HICP, decreased from 3.6% in July to 3.2% in August.
The most notable changes in the year were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+11.5%), Education (+6.5%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+6.4%) and Health (+6.3%). There were decreases in Clothing & Footwear (-5.1%) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (-1.9%).
The annual rate of inflation for Services was 5.3% in August, while Goods increased by 3.5% in the year.
The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Clothing & Footwear +5.8%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.5%) and Health (+0.8%). There were decreases in Transport (-1.6%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-0.3%).
The main factors contributing to the monthly change were as follows:
_ Clothing & Footwear rose following the conclusion of some summer sales.
_ Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels increased due to
higher average mortgage interest repayments and higher electricity
prices. These were partially offset by decreases in the cost of home heating oil and private rents.
_ Transport fell due to lower petrol and diesel prices and airfare
charges.
_ Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages fell due to price decreases across a range of products including beef, lamb, poultry, fresh fruit and vegetables.
The CPI excluding tobacco index for August increased by 0.5% in the month and was up 4.3% in the year. The CPI excluding energy products index was up by 0.6% since July and increased by 3.6% in the year. The CPI excluding mortgage interest showed no change in the month and rose by 3.2% in the year.
Click here for Annual Inflation figures August 2008
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/prices/2008/Prices/cons...
10 September 2008........ scientists at CERN in Geneva,Switzerland attempted for the first time to circulate a beam in the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC is the world’s most
powerful particle accelerator, and will produce beams seven times more energetic, and around 30 times more intense than any previous machine when it reaches design performance.
visit http://lhc-first-beam.web.cern.ch/lhc-first-beam/Welcome.html
New Scientist Article
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14699
3rd. September 2008.........Standardised unemployment rises to 6.1% in August
The seasonally adjusted Live Register total increased from 226,000 in July to 235,100 in August, an increase of 9,100.
In the year to August 2008, there was an unadjusted increase of 73,178 (+42.0%).
This compares with an unadjusted increase of 63,647 (+36.5%) in the year to July 2008.
Other features include:
The monthly increase in the seasonally adjusted series consisted of an increase of 7,400 males and an increase of 1,700 females.
The standardised unemployment rate in August was 6.1%. This compares with 5.1% in the second quarter of 2008, the latest seasonallya djusted unemployment rate from the Quarterly National Household Survey.
In the month, the estimated number of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register was 12,047 males and 14,921 females.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Allowance. Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest seasonally adjusted figure, for March to May 2008, is 115,100 persons unemployed.
Click here for Live Register, August 2008
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/2008/lreg...
25th August 2008 .............Consumer sentiment improved in August.
The overall Consumer Sentiment Index stood at 43.4 in August, compared to a figure of 39.6 in July. The corresponding figure for August 2007 was 72.0. The 3-month moving average fell to 41.7 from the 43.5 recorded in July. The 3-month moving average stood at 76.6 in August 2007.
Austin Hughes – Chief Economist, IIB Bank – (01) 664 6889
David Duffy – Economist – ESRI – (01) 863 2000
http://www.esri.ie/irish_economy/consumer_sentiment/latest_consumer_sent...?
21st August 2008………………………CSO figures released
Annual Manufacturing Prices down 2.6% in July
Monthly factory gate prices decreased by 0.8% in July 2008. This compares to a decrease of 1.0% recorded for July 2007. As a result, the annual percentage change showed a decrease of 2.6% in July 2008, compared with a decrease of 2.8% in June 2008.
In the month, the price index for export sales decreased by 1.0% while the index for home sales decreased by 0.1%. In the year there was a decrease in the price index for export sales of 4.6% and an increase of 5.8% in respect of the price index for home sales.
In the month the most significant changes were decreases in Basic chemicals(-1.6%), Office machinery and computers (-1.8%), and Pharmaceuticals and other chemical products (incl. man-made fibres) (-1.6%), while there was an increase in Basic metals (+12.6%).
Contributing to the annual change were decreases in Office machinery andco mputers (-14.3%), and Basic chemicals (-6.1%), while there were increases in Meat and meat products (+12.2%), and Other food products (+6.0%).
The yearly price index for Mining and quarrying decreased by 11.8% while there was a monthly increase of 1.6%.
A further analysis of Wholesale price changes by sector of use shows that:
Building and Construction All material prices increased by 4.5% in the year since July 2007. The most notable yearly changes were increases in Reinforcing metal (+28.5%), Bituminous emulsions
(+28.1%), and Structural steel (+20.7%). Building and Construction
All material prices increased by 0.6% in July 2008. See Table 3.
Year on year, the price of Capital Goods increased by 2.9%, while there was a monthly price increase of 0.2%.
The price of Energy products increased by 6.5% in the year since July 2007, while Petroleum fuels increased by 40.1%. In July 2008, there was a monthly increase in Energy products of 1.4%, while Petroleum fuels increased by 4.2%.
Click here for Wholesale Price Index, July 2008
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/prices/2008/wpi_jul2008...
20th August 2008………………………CSO figures released
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rises to 5.1% in Q2
The total number of persons in the labour force in the second quarter of 2008 was 2,223,900, representing an increase of 22,000 or 1.0% over the year.
This compares with an annual labour force growth of 4.2% or 88,000 in the second quarter of 2007. The overall participation rate for the second quarter of 2008 was 63.4%, compared with a rate of 63.7% for Q2 2007.
Employment grew by 6,900 or 0.3% over the year, bringing the total number of persons employed to 2,108,500.
The annual growth rate for Q2 2007 was 4.0%.
Female employment increased by 21,500 or 2.4% while male employment declined by 14,600 or 1.2% over the year.
Full-time employment decreased by 4,300 over the year, with male full-time employment falling by 19,500, partially offset by an increase of 15,200 for females.
Part-time employment increased by 11,100 with 6,200 of the increase attributable to females and 4,900 to males.
There were 115,500 persons unemployed in the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 15,200 in the year. All of the growth in unemployment was attributable to an increase in male unemployment (+18,000), while female unemployment fell by 2,800.
When seasonal factors are taken into account there was a quarterly increase of 7,700 in the numbers unemployed with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increasing from 4.8% to 5.1% between the first and second quarters of 2008.
Employment in the Construction sector decreased by 26,800 or 9.5% in the year to the second quarter of 2008, compared with an annual growth rate of 6.3% to the second quarter of 2007. The annual decrease in construction was attributable to a decline in the number of male employees (-27,700).
Click here for Quarterly National Household Survey, Quarter 2 2008
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/2008/qnhs...
8th August 2008............Cost of living index falls from 5% to 4.4% in July 2008 and it is difficult to predict the future.
European interest rates remain unchanged at 4.25% with indications of a fall in rates in the future.
The basis for extracting the Average Industrial Wage has changed in 2007 resulting in an increase of over 10% caused by the new statistics.
This has an effect on wage negations especially since the National Minimum Wage 2000 Act aspires to bring the minimum wage to 66.66% of the Average Industrial Wage.
The Average Industrial Wage is referred to in negotiations to review wages and an annual figure of Euro 33000PA was discussed during 2007.
The figure of 38000PA used in 2008 shows an increase of 15% despite the fact that the average awards under “Towards 2016” were about 5%PA
The average is extracted from Central Statistics Office (CSO) reports.
The Average Industrial Wage referred to in 2000 act is The Quarterly Industrial Inquiry and this statistic has been discontinued from Q3 2007 and is replaced by the new Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS). http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/earnings/current/earnla...
The 2008 figure of Euro38000 appears to be based on the average of the 4 quarterly average weekly earnings in this report Euro 736.18PW
Average weekly earnings of industrial workers Statistics are only available to 2006 http://www.cso.ie/statistics/industrial_earnings.htm
The 2007 figure of Euro 33000 is generally based on the average weekly earnings 2006 Euro 624.45PW using this earlier system
The National Minimum Wage of Euro 8.65 per hour is also under review and the 2000 Act aspires to bring the minimum wage to 66.66% of the average industrial wage.
8.65 equates to 346PW 17992PA
54% of average industrial wage of 33000
47% of average industrial wage of 38000
7th August 2008............Cost of living index falls from 5% to 4.4% in July 2008 and it is difficult to predict the future.
European interest rates remain unchanged at 4.25% with indications of a fall in rates in the future.
6thAugust 2008........Unions intensify claims despite minimum wage being highest in Europe.
The private sector unions met today [6th August 2008] and are now intend pursuing individual claims of 5% and a flat weekly increase of Euro30 for lower paid workers.
The National Minimum Wage of Euro 8.65 per hour (17992PA 346PW or 54% approx of average industrial wage) would then increase by 75 Cent to 9.40 for existing workers.
This will make Ireland more uncompedative at a time we need more jobs.
August 2008 (Week 1).......A RETURN TO LOCAL BARGAINING COULD BE AVOIDED
A new collective agreement may still be possible and industrial unrest avoided.
“The glass is half full”
The reduction in the number of people earning is reducing the demand for goods and services and prices are falling.
Lower prices will allow people to survive on existing wages.
Increasing wages any further does not make any sense at this point as it would possibly fuel inflation and reduce competitiveness and employment.
A job at present wage rates is better than no job
Failure to reach agreement on a 21 month framework should not stop talks.
Talks could continue on a monthly basis leading to a new deadline of March 2009 at which stage the economy may show signs of recovery.
A new date would also allow for alignment of the final stages of the last agreement [some agreements have already ended and some workers are still covered to end in September 2008?]
Trades unions in Ireland are proposing a return to local bargaining against calls for wage restraint from other social partners.
Workers feel they are entitled to at least 5% wage increase together with a flat rate increase for all lower paid workers to bring them closer to the national industrial wage of Euro 33000PA approx 15.86 per hour.
CSO Statistics are only available up to 2006 http://www.cso.ie/statistics/industrial_earnings.htm
Manufacturing Industries - Average weekly earnings of industrial workers in each year €
Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Adult Males 512.38 538.38 564.90 588.92 609.91 624.45
Adult Females 347.32 365.18 393.78 406.83 430.23 451.12
The National Minimum Wage of Euro 8.65 per hour (17992PA 346PW or 54% approx of average industrial wage)is also under review and the 2000 Act aspires to bring the minimum wage to 66.66% of the average industrial wage.
Employers claim that a six month pay pause is necessary in light of the present economic difficulties.
August 2008 ...................Negotiations have broken down [deadline passed Friday 1st August 2008] in talks leading to a new National Wage Agreement [Pay deal]. The current “Pay Talks” were set against the revelation that “Ireland Inc.” has been heading into recession for almost two years. Staff employed by a leading estate agent have agreed to a ten percent wage reduction to avoid joining the growing number of redundant employees and several Companies have sought the protection of examinership or liquidation. Unemployment in at almost 6% and heading for 7%
The social partners include representatives from industry, the unions, charitable agencies and The Government
PAY
Employers were seeking a pay pause and rights to claim inability to pay in order to be competitive and to avoid comparative increase in public sector pay increases which will ultimately be a cost to the taxpayer.
Unions were seeking at least 5% increase in wages to cover inflation.
OTHER ISSUES
Unions were seeking:
Introduction of mandatory collective bargaining.
Equal rights for “Agency” workers.
The minimum wage rate will also be reviewed.
Minimum wages rate Euro 8.65 from 1st July 2007
(Previously 8.30 from 1st January 2007)
Check back later for updates
This News You Can Use is sponsored by Agency Group
Further info available 353 1 6793561 or email update@agency.ie
Consult the employment contract for any reference to rules for "pay review". It should be noted that there is no obligation to mention "pay review" under The Terms of Employment Act 1994. The act states that an employee must be provided with a written statement of "Terms of Employment" within two months of commencement, however, it should be noted that there is no obligation to mention "pay review".
A number of areas must be considered when reviewing pay;
An organisation should establish a remuneration committee and commence the review a number of months before the review date.
Reviews: (excluding merit awards) during 2008 are likely to be around 5% and consider the following:-
Cost of living index: Moving towards an average 4.5% in 2007
National wages agreement:
A new national partnership agreement, "Towards 2016" was ratified in October 2006 as follows:
Phase 1: 3% of basic pay for six months
Phase 2: 2% of basic pay for nine months
(employees earning 10.25 per hour or less at start of second phase will receive an increase of 2.5%)
Phase 3: 2.5% of basic pay for six months
Phase 4: 2.5% of basic pay for six months
These increases were backdated to early 2006 for many workers and will equate to 5% on an annual basis in 2006 and 2007 or 10.38% over 27 months
"Sustaining Progress 2004/2005" 6% over 18 months equated to 3 to 4% on an annual basis
Minimum wages rate:Euro 7.65 applicable from May 2005 increased by 13% in 2007. The first increase was 8.5% to Euro 8.30 on 1st January 2007 followed by 4.21% to Euro 8.65 on 1st July 2007 (recent increases 2004 10% 2005 9%)
Ability to pay
An employer may claim inability to pay under two agreements in circumstances where this would result in a serious loss of competitiveness and employment.
Non-Taxable allowances
Non-Taxable allowances should also be included in the review.
For example the 2008 subsistence rates where an employee is away from their place of work are:
From 5-10 hours - Euro 18.21? 2007 17.60 2006 16.95
Over 10 hours - Euro 48.81? 2007 43.13 2006 41.55
Overnight - Euro 145.32? 2007 133.17
Further information is available on allowances.
If you require any further information on the above article please contact info@agency.ie